


Dear Mom

by GnomeIgnominious



Category: MASH (TV)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, could be read as pre-slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-28
Updated: 2017-09-28
Packaged: 2019-01-06 12:23:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12211230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GnomeIgnominious/pseuds/GnomeIgnominious
Summary: "A guy has a crappy morning followed by an exhausting afternoon topped off with a crummy evening and wants to tell his mom about it? I think it's the sanest thing I've heard all week."





	Dear Mom

The sun had long since set over their little patch of Korea and the hot day had cooled to a dusty and uneasy night by the time the next shift arrived and BJ could finally slip out of Post-Op. For all his faults, Frank was always on time for his shifts and BJ sent a silent word of thanks for this as he made his way home across the compound. 

It had been a long and difficult day. They had lost two patients on the table almost one after the other, and another soldier still on the ward would be lucky if he made it through the night. Hawkeye and the colonel had been on the first shift and had long since turned in for bed, so BJ was surprised to see the light over Hawkeye's bunk still burning as he approached the tent. 

Through the canvas BJ could see Hawkeye's hunched back and the pad of paper balanced on his knee. He quietly pulled open the door and Hawkeye glanced up briefly, pen wedged in his teeth.

"Hey Hawk. Couldn't sleep?"

"What gave it away?"

"Well, I'm no doctor, but the wide open eyes and distinct lack of snoring are big clues."

"Huh." Hawkeye didn't rise to the joke and BJ frowned as he began to undress for bed. Stress and worry usually turned the famous Pierce motormouth up to eleven, but it seemed that their patients' deaths that afternoon had caused a temporary cessation of the normally relentless wisecracks. BJ figured he'd try once more for some conversation before giving in for the night.

"Who're you writing?"

Hawkeye didn't look up from the page. "Home."

"Didn't you write your dad only yesterday?"

The pen finally stilled, and Hawkeye glanced up at BJ. The orange light threw the lines on his face into sharp relief, and all at once he looked old and tired and empty.

"Promise you won't laugh?" 

The question threw BJ slightly and he shrugged, a smile tugging at his lips in spite of himself.

"Sure, Hawk."

"I'm writing my mom."

For a moment BJ was nonplussed. Then he remembered. The casual conversation he and Hawkeye had had over beers in the O Club the week he arrived, sharing stories of Mill Valley and Crabapple Cove. Hawkeye talking about his dad but never his mom. The photograph he'd once glimpsed in Hawkeye's wallet as he settled the tab at Rosie's; a woman about Hawkeye's age, with dark hair in an old-fashioned hairdo and the same laughter lines as his around her eyes. 

His late mother.

BJ sat down heavily on Hawkeye's bunk, casting around rather helplessly for something to say. He felt Hawk shift awkwardly beside him.

"Kinda crazy, right?"

BJ shook his head. 

"A guy has a crappy morning followed by an exhausting afternoon topped off with a crummy evening and wants to tell his mom about it? I think it's the sanest thing I've heard all week."

Hawkeye gently nudged his shoulder. "Thanks, Beej."

Without really realising what he was doing, BJ put his arm around Hawkeye's shoulders, not moving until Hawkeye finished his letter home.

-0- 

_Dear Mom,_

_I'm sorry I haven't written in a while. You know how hectic things can get around here, and today was one of the worst._

_We lost two patients today. Two young kids who'll never see home again. The first boy's heart stopped beating with my fingers inside his chest. The other I watched die helplessly as Colonel Potter and BJ tried to revive him, but his body was more shrapnel than flesh by the time he reached us._

_The one comfort I get from this is at least they didn't die alone out in some godforsaken field in Korea. They died with us and they didn't go without a fight._

_Actually, scratch that. There's one other comfort here: BJ. He just walked in, so I'm going to have to sign off soon. I don't know what I'd do without him here, Mom. He's a rock for all of us to cling to._

_Watch out for those soliders if you see them._

_With all my love,_

_Ben._

**Author's Note:**

> This idea has been knocking around in my head for a couple of weeks and I needed to exercise the ol' writing muscles. Hopefully I kept them sufficiently in character. If you want to send me M*A*S*H prompts, hit me up at malcolm-f-tucker.tumblr.com/ask.


End file.
